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The word “dream” is most likely related to the West Germanic draugmus,
(meaning deception, illusion, or phantom) or from the Old Norse draugr (ghost,
apparition) or the Sanskrit druh (seek to harm or injure).You cannot snore and dream at the same time.Adults dream off and on, for a total of about an hour and half to three hours
every night.By the time we die, most of us will have spent a quarter of a century asleep,
of which six years or more will have been spent dreaming—and almost all of those
dreams are forgotten upon waking.The average person has about 1,460 dreams a year. That’s about four per
night.Egyptian pharaohs were considered children of Ra (Egyptian sun god) and,
thus, their dreams were seen as being divine.In the Chinese province of Fu-Kein, people called on their ancestors for
dream revelation by sleeping on graves.Scientists suggest that the dreams of fetuses are mostly composed of sound
and touch sensations, given the lack of visual stimuli in the womb.Among the six dreams reported in the New Testament are the dreams that
communicate divine knowledge, instruction, and warning to Joseph, husband of
Mary, mother of Jesus.About 80% of neonatal and newborn sleep time is REM sleep, suggesting a
tremendous amount of time dreaming.According to Plato, dreams originate in the organs of the belly. Plato
describes the liver in particular as the biological seat of dreams.Elias Howe (1819-1867) said one inspiration for his invention of the sewing
machine came from a nightmare he had about being attacked by cannibals bearing
spears that looked like the needle he then designed.Modern research has shown that a sharp decrease in daily calories results in
fewer nocturnal ejaculations in men and an overall decrease in the sexual themes
of dreams.Aside from those who experience certain kinds of injury, it’s a biological
fact that everyone dreams. However, not everyone remembers his or her
dreams.Most of us dream every 90 minutes, and the longest dreams (30-45 minutes)
occur in the morning.The scientific study of dreams is known as oneirology (Latin oneiros: dream,
ology: writing).One West African group, the Ashanti, take dreams so seriously that they would
allow a husband to take legal action against another man if that man had an
erotic dream about his wife.All cultures and time periods report nightmares. The word “nightmare” derives
from the Anglo-Saxon word mare, meaning demon—which is related to the Sanskrit
mara, meaning destroyer, and mar, meaning to crush. So the word “nightmare”
carries with it connotations of being crushed by demonic forces.Lilith, who in some accounts preceded Eve in the Garden of Eden, fled the
Garden when she learned that God expected her to “lay under” Adam. She later
becomes an early version of a succubi, or night demon, who causes men's
nocturnal ejaculations in order to feed on the resulting bodily fluids.Discovered in 1856, the planet Neptune (which is named after the Roman god of
the sea) is considered the planet of dreams—because, like water, dreams distort
and cloud images and meaning. Additionally, water represents the depths of the
unconscious and our emotional levels in dream imagery, places that our dreams
take us.During REM sleep, the flow of blood to the brain increases, as does the
brain’s temperature. Additionally, both the penis and the clitoris in women
become erect.Dreams of losing teeth or having teeth extracted can signify many things,
including fears of helplessness or of some sort of loss in one’s life. Women
experience more teeth dreams than men.Dreams of dirty water may signal that the unconscious mind is telling the
dreamer he or she is not healthy.The Buddhist exercise practice of yoga has many benefits, including helping
one learn how to control his or her dreams by controlling the body’s vital
energies.An alien in a dream may indicate that the dreamer is experiencing difficulty
adjusting to new conditions or a new environment, or that his or her personal
space is being invaded. Dreams about aliens could indicate that the dreamer
feels maladjusted or violatedCakes in dreams can signify a time to rejoice at one’s accomplishments, or to
celebrate new relationships
or work efforts that have been successful but not necessarily acknowledged.Finding oneself in a cemetery during a dream may indicate sadness or
unresolved grief. It may also represent one’s “dead” past.Chocolate in a dream may symbolize that the dreamer feels the need to be
rewarded and deserves special treatment. It could also mean that the dreamer has
been indulging in too many excesses and needs to practice restraint.Standing on a cliff in a dream can represent that one has a broad view of
something or that the dreamer feels like he or she is living on the edge or is
afraid of failure.William
Shakespeare (1564-1616), like his Greek playwright predecessors, used dreams
in his dramas to help advance plot and develop characters. For example, dreams
in Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard the III, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear offer key
psychological and symbolic insights into the motives and internal landscapes of
important characters.Colors in dreams can be interpreted only in the context of the dreamer’s
relationship with that color. For example, the color red may be experienced as
love or sex for one
person—but for someone else, red may denote blood or destruction.Large bodies of water often symbolize the unconscious, so dreams of drowning
may indicate being overwhelmed by unconscious, repressed issues. Drowning can
also symbolize that the dreamer is entering a new stage of development and that
the old self is “dying.”Feet in dreams can symbolize everything from sex to humiliation. They can
also represent mobility, freedom, or a foundation.Forests, like water, are often symbols of the unconscious. Traveling into a
forest indicates exploration of the unconscious realm or represents a comforting
refuge from the demands of everyday life.A house in a dream is often a symbol of our body, so a mansion in a dream can
represent a “rich” or even exaggerated sense of self. A mansion might also
represent our future potential.Expectant parents often have dreams about miscarriages, but this is almost
always a symbol of their anxiety about the baby rather than a prediction.
Miscarriage dreams are also powerful symbols of projects or business deals that
have gone wrong.Being naked in a dream suggests exposure of self to others, vulnerability, or
feeling ashamed. Alternatively, it can also represent a desire for freedom or
being unencumbered.Vampires are
important fixtures in folklore, and their appearance in dreams can represent our
general fears and anxieties or can embody anxieties about our sexuality.Because nightmares were thought to be from menacing spirits, such as witches,
folklore suggests placing a knife under the foot of the bed. Evil spirits were
thought to be repelled by the steel on the knife.Famous French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) asserts
in his essay “Dream, Imagination, and Existence” that dreams are the origin of
the human soul. He also posits that dreams about death are the most important
type of dream because they are the moment life reaches its fulfillment.As related in the epic Gilgamesh, dreams were highly regarded in ancient
Mesopotamia as omens of the future or ways in which a dreamer could access other
realities, such as the afterlife.In ancient Greece, dreams were regarded as messages from the gods.
Incubation, or the practice of seeking significant dreams by sleeping in a
sacred place, also was popular, particularly in the healing cult of Asclepius at
Epidaurus.Female demons known as succubi (sub:under, cubare:to lie) and their male
counterparts incubi (to lie upon, related to “incubate”) are spirits that
sexually molest human dreamers for evil purposes. They also provide convenient
explanations for pregnancies resulting from secret affairs, as documented in
Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Spenger’s 1486 text, Malleus Maleficarum (“Witch
Hammer”).Falling dreams typically occur at the beginning of the night, in Stage I
sleep. These dreams are often accompanied by muscle spasms, called myoclonic
jerks, and are common in many mammals.Many people have made discoveries while dreaming—such as Friedrich August von
Kekule (1829-1896), who dreamed of a snake biting its own tail and discovered
that certain organic compounds are closed chains or rings.Vitamin B complex (B6) and St. John’s Wort have been shown to produce more
vivid dreams.eFlying dreams are found around the world and have existed since ancient
times, even before the invention of airplanes.The Beatty Papyrus, written around 1350 B.C. and discovered at Thebes, is the
oldest dream dictionary existing today. It describes special dream-interpreting
priests called “Masters of the Secret Things” or “Learned Ones of the Magic
Library.”After the printing press was invented, a dream dictionary called
Oneirocritica (The Interpretation of Dreams) by second-century author
Artemidorus Daldianus became one of the first best-sellers, comparable only to
the Bible in popularity.Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) landmark work, The Interpretation of Dreams
(1900), which became a milestone in dream interpretation, sold only 415 copies
in the first two years.Dreams played an important part in the life of Muhammad (570-632), who
received his first revelation during a dream. His initiation into the mysteries
of the cosmos occurred during a dream known as the “Night Journey.” the site of
which is now commemorated by the Dome of the Rock.In contrast to modern dream interpretation, which is psychologically
oriented, ancient dream interpretation was concerned with discovering clues to
the future.The Iroquois have an annual dream-sharing festival in which they act out
their dreams, either literally or in pantomime.Tertullian, a third-century lawyer-turned-priest, argued in his Treatise on
the Soul that the ongoing activity of the mind in dreams while the body was
motionless proved that the soul was independent of the body and, thus,
immortal.The fourth-century Christian writer Macrobius' text, Commentary on the Dream
of Scipio, was the most influential dream book of medieval Europe. He appears to
be the first person to introduce incubi and succubi, which were rooted in
earlier Jewish folklore, into Christianity.The memory-recording processes of the brain seems to switch off during sleep.
In so-called non-dreamers, this memory shutdown is more complete than it is for
the rest. Dreams may be forgotten because they are incoherent or because they
contain repressed material that the conscious mind does not wish to
remember.Dreams occupy a prevalent role in movies, including Fritz Lang’s Woman in the
Window (1944); Hitchcock’s Spellbound, Psycho, and Marnie, and Victor Fleming’s
The Wizard of Oz.St. Jerome’s mistranslation of certain key biblical passages led Medieval
Christians to fear their dreams and to view them as the devil’s invitation to
sin.Abraham, the ancestor of the Hebrew nation, was one of the most prolific
dreamers in the Hebrew Bible. The first dream in the Bible is in Genesis
15:12-16 and is a dream by Abraham.According to psychologists, daydreaming and dreams during sleep may be
related, but different cognitive processes seem to be involved.Philosopher and mathematician René Descartes (1596-1650) struggled with the
question of whether or not the mind’s perception of dreams represented
reality.Common dream motifs that transcend cultural and socio-economic boundaries
include falling, flying, nakedness in public, and unpreparedness. Such shared
dreams arise from experiences and anxieties fundamental to all people.Psychologists speculate that falling dreams are rooted in our early
experiences as toddlers taking our first steps on two legs. Some sociobiologists
argue that our fear of falling derives from the experiences of prehistorical
ancestors afraid of tumbling out of trees during the night.Flying dreams can express both our hopes and fears in life—we can be “flying
high” or “risen above” something. Freud associated flying with sexual desire,
Alfred Adler with the will to dominate others, and Carl Jung with the desire to
break free from restriction.In general, pregnant
women remember dreams more than other populations. This is largely due to
the extreme hormonal changes during pregnancy. Hormonal changes during pregnancy
increases both the number of dreams and the ability to recall dreamsUntil sometime during the sixteenth century, Chinese society expected
prominent political figures to seek dream guidance periodically to maintain
balance and objectivity.Nicotine patches and even melatonin (an over-the-counter sleep aid) are
reported to increase the vividness of dreams and nightmares. The nicotine patch
in particular is said to intensify dreams.Drugs that are used for regulating the endocrine system, for controlling
blood pressure, and for treating neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s
disease can wreak havoc on form, content, and frequency of dreams.The link between hallucinogenic drugs and dreams has been recognized since
the time of oldest societies. Belladonna was the drug of ancient oracles of
Delphi, used to induce trances and dreams. The early Persians used Haoma for the
same general purpose.The Egyptians had a male god of dreams, Serapis, who had a number of temples
devoted to his worship. These temples housed professional interpreters or
“learned ones of the library of magic.” Serapis’ likeness was often carved on
the headboards and headrests of Egyptian beds.Sufferers of epilepsy can have extremely vivid and disturbing nightmares that
immediately precede seizures during the night.The archangel Gabriel is considered the archangel of childbirth, emotions,
and dreams.In Hawaiin mythology, dreams are called moe’uhane or “soul sleep” because it
was believed the soul left and entered the physical body through the tear duct,
or the lua’uhane or “soul pit” during the night. Nightmares occured when spirits
entered the body while the soul was gone. It was possible for a mortal to have
sexual relations with that spirit (often referred to as the husband or wife of
the night).Hypnagogic hallucinations are dreamlike images and sounds that may occur just
as a person is falling asleep or waking up.“Old Hag Syndrome,” or sleep paralysis, occurs in as many as 40% of all
people. It happens when a sleeper wakes, recognizes his or her surroundings but
is unable to move for as long as a minute. The folklore explanation is that it
is caused by a witch, or an old hag, who was coming to get you in your
sleep.U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) suffered from chronic childhood
nightmares about paralysis that continued into his adult life.Researchers at New York University suggest that wakefulness and REM sleep are
essentially similar brain states, differing only in the extent to which they are
shaped by sensory stimuli from the outside world.Even the occasional use of alcohol can have a significant impact on sleep and
dreaming. Alcohol slows activity in the cortex, which causes a person to sink
into a deep, slow-wave sleep rather than experiencing REM sleep.Birth order influences the role of aggression in dreams. While men typically
experience more aggressive dreams than women, a firstborn male typically sees
himself in a more positive manner than do his younger male siblings. First-born
females tend to have more aggressive characters in their dreams.Modern studies show that children have more animal dreams than adults. The
animal figures that occurred most frequently are dogs, horses, cats,
snakes, bears, lions, and mythical creatures or monsters.Childhood dreams are shorter than adult dreams and nearly 40% of them are
nightmares, which may act as a coping mechanism. Nightmares are quite common in
children, particularly during preschool yearsThe Romantic Movement—with its insistence on the unconscious mind as the
source of all creativity, art, and even dreams—clearly foreshadowed Sigmund
Freud’s groundbreaking work on dreams.South Asian Hindus developed the idea that this world is actually a dream and
the “real” reality is somewhere else. The Vedas, the oldest Hindu scriptures
(3,000-4,000 years old) suggest that people are reincarnated back into this
world, which is a dream, and it’s only after breaking the cycle of reincarnation
or “waking up” from this dream world, that they’ll understand the truth and
become complete.The Raramuri people of Northern Mexico make their sleeping arrangements so
that they can wake during the night to discuss their dreams with one
another.The quality of dreams depends, at least in part, on the stage of sleep in
which the dreams occur. Dreams during REM tend to be more bizarre and detailed
and have story line. Dreams in stages 1 and 2 of sleep are simpler and shorter.
Deep-sleep dreams tend to be diffused and may be about nothing more than a color
or emotion.Night terrors, or parasomnia, are not the same as nightmares. They are
episodes of extreme panic that occur in early sleep and affect from 1%-4% of
children between the ages of four and 12. Night terrors are rare in adults and
most often occur in those who abuse drugs or alcoholic or have a sleep disorders
such as apnea.People who are born blind report no visual imagery in dreams, but they
experience a heightened sense of taste, touch, and smell. Those who become
sightless between the ages of five and seven may have visual images in their
dreams, while those who lose their vision after age seven continue to “see” in
their dreams, though images tend to fade as they grow older.Men’s dreams are more often set outdoors, are more action oriented, and
involve strangers more often than women’s dreams do. Women’s dreams usually
happen indoors and involve emotional encounters with people they know and care
about. Men are more likely than women to dream about aggression, misfortune, and
negative emotions such as fear, anger, anxiety, or disgust. Women’s dreams are
more often friendly and positive.For reasons that are unknown, males dream of males more often than females
dream of males. This sexual asymmetry is universal and has emerged from at least
29 different comparisons of male and female dreams—and it holds true for
children, adolescents, and adults in all parts of the world.The brain waves that occur during REM and non-REM sleep are found in mammals,
birds, and reptiles, but not in amphibians and fish.Various famous authors attribute their classics to dreams. For example, Mary
Shelly claimed inspiration for Frankenstein came directly from her nightmares
and Robert Lewis Stevenson accredited his classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to the
same.Those who watched black-and-white television as youngsters tend to have more
monochrome dreams than children who watched color television. Children who
watched black and white television are more likely to dream in monochromeAncient Hebrews are unique in that they did not believe dreams originated in
the realm of the dead, but that they were prophetic messages from God.
Therefore, and unlike their neighboring societies, they did not actively seek to
induce dreams. An entire section of the Talmud is devoted to systematic analysis
of dreams, nightmares, and visions.One of the most infamous precognitive dreams in history was President
Lincoln's in 1865. The president envisioned his own demise just a few days
before he was assassinated in Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865.Lucid dreaming occurs when there is a state of partial or complete awareness
during the dream state. Researchers have begun to explore the possibility of
using lucid dreaming for the treatment of nightmares and other therapeutic
purposes. An oneironaut is someone who lucidly dreams. The first reference to
lucid dreaming is Aristotle’s On Dreams.Morpheus is the principle Greek god of dreams and sleep. His name is from the
Greek word morphe, meaning “he who forms, shapes, and molds.” Hypnos, the god of
sleep, is his father; Pasithea is his mother; and Thanatos, the personification
of death, is his uncle.Chronic smokers who suddenly quit report more vivid dreams than they had when
they smoked.If a dreamer is awakened directly from REM sleep, he or she is more likely to
remember the dream than if awoken during another stage of sleep or after a
complete night’s sleep.When deprived of dreams, individuals become irritable and disoriented,
hallucinate, and show signs of psychosis. They will also dream excessively the
first chance they get in a phenomenon known as “REM rebound.”

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